A Notre Dame Football Blog
"Like the immigrants it served, the University of Notre Dame began as an outsider -- poor, but filled with faith." "We have Irish roots, but include Africans, Brazilians, and Japanese in a common pursuit of truth." The "nickname, the 'Fighting Irish, was first used by opposing fans in the 1920s to insult Knute Rockne's football players, who were mostly Irish immigrants like the rest of the Notre Dame student body." These quotes are taken from the narrated tour of campus you can find at ...
Brian Kelly
Corbett Family Head Football Coach Brian Kelly can look back on 2016 and enjoy the moment. With seven players selected in the most recent NFL draft, a solid recruiting class (ranked twelfth by Rivals, sixteenth by ESPN), and a ten-win season behind him, the case that Coach Kelly belongs in the pantheon with Lou and Ara and Knute has only gotten stronger. In addition to the seven drafted players, which included Notre Dame's highest pick since 1993, Ronnie Stanley, six players signed free agent ...
The Miami-Notre Dame series, while largely dominated by Notre Dame, was full of excitement in the late 1980s. Whether it was the unforgivable 58-7 humiliation that was Gerry Faust’s last game or the near riot prior to the 1988 thriller, the games were hard-hitting, emotion-fueled, big-play dramas. While games in both 1988 and 1989 largely decided the national championship, the 1990 game was actually ranked #3 by fans for the best games in Notre Dame Stadium in a 2005 poll. It also played a ...
(Featured photo: John Mersitis/Landov)
What is good enough for Notre Dame? I was a child of the Lou Holtz years, when Notre Dame was in the hunt for a national title almost every season. That has not been the case at any point since Holtz left. In this article, I'm going to look at some of the stated "hurdles" and determine if they're relevant. Then, I'm going to answer: What is a reasonable expectation for Notre Dame football on an annual basis? Schedule “We won nine games two years out of the five. I think the difficulty is ...
Last weekend was that big football game which millions ignore to watch everything else that goes on around it. A lot of defense was played and a quarterback of mature years seemingly concluded his career on a high note. One of the several occurrences that people found more interesting than the game itself was the press conference during which the defeated quarterback was laconic, surly, and dismissive before dismissing himself from the press conference. I’m told this fellow attended no fewer ...
Illustration by @phillykelly
Last week, Notre Dame announced it had extended the contract of head football coach Brian Kelly through 2021. Kelly already has 55 wins at Notre Dame and has the most career victories of any coach currently coaching a FBS subdivision program (226). If he stays for the entirety of his contract*, it's likely he could eclipse Lou Holtz for games coached (132) and Knute Rockne for wins (105). But there will be no Brian Kelly statue erected outside Notre Dame Stadium when the coach ...
Lou Holtz, Notre Dame's legendary and revered Hall of Fame coach, was a featured guest at the University of Michigan's "Signing of the Stars" event. Holtz had his good reasons for participating, including supporting a charity dedicated to eradicating children's cancer. But Lou didn't go to make jokes at the expense of the Michigan men. He went there AND KISSED THEIR PATOOTIES. Here is a list of eight times we rolled our eyes, cringed or puked in our mouths when Lou Holtz was praising ...
There is a class of third-graders in California that has adopted the University as something of learning partner, teacher’s aide, and mentor. These young lads and lasses call themselves the Notre Dame Class of 2029. I enthusiastically applaud this kind of bold, audacious vision and aspiration; after all, in 1842, I declared a mildewed log cabin on the Midwestern American tundra to be a University. Didn’t go from mission to school to college – never used the word ‘impossible’ – didn’t bother to ...
Courtesy of ESPN
This entry is part of Her Loyal Sons' continuing Fiesta Bowl preview series: Defensive preview, Ezekiel Elliott accident, Costume Gameday, offensive preview, Injured Irish returning, comprehensive bowl overview. Today, we examine the coaches. By almost all metrics, Ohio State's Urban Meyer has had a more successful career recently than Notre Dame's Brian Kelly. Let's compare: HEAD-TO-HEAD (ON THE FIELD) Kelly and Meyer have never faced each other. The pair were on a collision course ...
Picture courtesy of Robert Pernett (via Flickr)
Brian Kelly is, by my amateur analysis, the worst coach Notre Dame has ever allowed to oversee its football team for at least 65 games. It’s completely unfair to compare coaches from different eras because of the college game has evolved in the past 80 seasons. There's also several issues that are beyond the head coaches' control: academic issues, injuries and transfers to name a few. However, I’m going to do it to provide an additional perspective on Brian Kelly’s tenure (Bayou Irish ...